A CHURCH minister who is registered blind has recently written, published and illustrated a poem collection during lockdown.

Emma Major, 45, of Allonby Close, Earley, announced the publishing of her new and inspiring poetry collection, ‘Little Guy: Journey of Hope.’

The collection of 25 poems and illustrations details the story of the ‘Little Guy’, a character who transforms from being helplessly depressed to hopeful of what is to come.

Mrs Major said: “The idea literally came to me in January - I woke up one morning with three pictures in my head and three accompanying poems, and I just had to get them down on paper.

“Within two weeks all 25 had been drawn, and I’ve never drawn anything like it before in my life. 

“It was really surreal.”

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The downloadable book was published by Christian publishing group Wild Goose Publications on May 1.

She added: “Once coronavirus appeared in the UK, now we’re all isolating, the rush to get Little Guy onto paper makes sense.”

Mrs Major is currently ‘shielding’ in quarantine - not leaving the house under any circumstances - due to the coronavirus, as advised by the government for those especially vulnerable.

She added: “Little guy shows us that we will emerge from this, and hopefully we’ll learn to be less lonely as a society, and be more able to support each other. 

“That’s what I think little guy does.”

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Mrs Major, a licensed lay minister at St Nicolas Church, Earley, has severely-impaired vision and can no longer read printed text.

As a result, she has ensured that recorded audio descriptions of every picture in the book are available to enable everyone to have access to it.

To download the poem collection, go online to ionabooks.com/little-guy-downloadable-book.html